1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to installation of ventilating fans in electronic devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Ventilating fans are commonly used in electronic devices. Fans usually have a housing with four mounting holes, one in each corner. These fans are usually mounted with hardware such as screws, thread-forming screws, studs, or rivets. The fans are mounted to a mounting bracket or securing plate in the plane of a fan mounting face of the fan housing.
In some cases, it is necessary or desirable to mount a fan perpendicularly to a mounting plate or circuit pack in an electronic device. Typically, this requires mounting an additional support bracket to the mounting plate or circuit pack, and then securing the fan to the additional support bracket with screws, thread-forming screws, studs, or rivets. In many cases, the mounting plate is now in close proximity and perpendicular to the fan mounting face of the fan housing. The mounting plate is also near at least two of the mounting holes in the mounting face of the fan housing. The result is that the mounting holes are in a highly constrained space and it is difficult to position tools so that they are readily able to insert or remove mounting hardware into the mounting holes of the fan. Due to the cost of adding an additional support bracket to an electronic device, as well as labor costs, the conventional method of assembling a fan perpendicularly to a mounting plate or circuit pack can amount to anywhere from 30% to 100% of the cost of a ventilating fan.
Additionally, methods of installing fans to the additional support bracket sometimes place too much stress on the equipment. For example, in certain designs fans have been mounted to support brackets with rivets. Application of rivets to fan housings in high speeds can damage fan housings in production lines, and occasionally break the housings. This can happen with unacceptable frequency, leading to an unacceptable number of rejects. This can increase production costs per unit.
It is a feature of the invention to provide a more economical method of installing a ventilating fan in an electronic device.
It is a further feature of the invention to provide a method of installing a ventilating fan in an electronic device which requires little or no hardware.
It is an additional feature of the invention to provide a less labor-intensive method of installing a ventilating fan in an electronic device.
The foregoing features and advantages of the invention are illustrative of those that can be achieved by the various exemplary embodiments and are not intended to be exhaustive or limiting of the possible advantages that can be realized. Thus, these and other objects and advantages of the various exemplary embodiments will be apparent from the description herein or can be learned from practicing the various exemplary embodiments, both as embodied herein or as modified in view of any variation that may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention resides in the novel methods, arrangements, combinations, and improvements herein shown and described in various exemplary embodiments.